This company pioneers immersive e-tail experiences

As the Indian smartphone market sees modest growth, one tech company is taking charge of transforming the way consumers interact with brands through innovative augmented reality (AR) experiences.

Xtendr, a Mumbai-based startup founded by Anurag Sachdeva — also its CEO — has been working with over 60 brands across diverse sectors to create immersive, three-dimensional engagements redefining consumer-product relationships.

“We started with the idea of using spatial computing and augmented reality to change how people see and experience products,” said Sachdeva. “Our goal is to merge the physical and digital worlds, giving consumers the power to interact with products in new, engaging ways.”

The company’s approach has yielded impressive results. Compared to traditional two-dimensional advertising, Xtendr’s AR experiences have seen engagement times skyrocket from seconds to minutes as consumers actively participate in brand interactions.

One such example is Xtendr’s work with Nestle for the launch of its Maggie Korean noodles. Instead of a standard video ad, Nestle used AR to give consumers two options: Watching a video or virtually placing a pan on the table and engaging with the product. The latter option saw significantly higher engagement, with a “bigger chunk of the audience” opting for the AR experience over the video.

“It’s no longer about just watching something, but about tapping, interacting, and doing something,” Sachdeva explained. “The consumer is no longer passive, but an active participant in the brand experience.”

Xtendr’s work has also extended to large-scale, location-based activations. For a cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan, the company created a virtual stadium with which fans could explore and interact through their smartphones. Similarly, they generated a series of AR ice cubes for a Sprite campaign that consumers could virtually “roll out” on the streets, triggering voting and even on-demand delivery of Sprite cans.

“The beauty of this is that the consumer becomes a part of the engagement, or the engagement becomes a part of the consumer’s environment,” Sachdeva said. “It’s about seamlessly blending the virtual and the real.”

Xtendr’s success has not come without its challenges, however. When the company started in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic initially slowed adoption, and the team faced scepticism from potential clients.

“The first year was definitely a big loss, not just from the point of view that adoption was slow, but also because of the impact of COVID-19,” Sachdeva recalled. “Nobody thought it would take so long to get off the ground.”

However, the team persevered, focusing on creating immersive experiences rather than simply selling AR technology. This approach and word-of-mouth referrals have helped Xtendr grow its client base.

“We were never just selling AR for the sake of AR,” Sachdeva said. “It’s about pulling the consumer in for a longer time, enabling gamification, storytelling, and creating a seamless blend of the physical and digital.”

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As the company looks to the future, Xtendr is setting its sights on becoming a “flagbearer” of immersive media in India, capitalising on the country’s rapid adoption of new technologies. The team is developing AI-powered tools to make it easier for non-technical users to create AR experiences and exploring the potential of mixed-reality glasses to enhance the immersive experience further.

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“India has always been a bit behind the curve when it comes to technology adoption, but that’s changing rapidly,” Sachdeva said. “We want to be at the forefront of this transformation, driving the conversation and shaping the future of consumer engagement.”